On the Line

Boulanger may argue that this is the perfect time for a feature about victim blaming, cancel culture, and societal paradigm shifts, with pixels replacing radio waves. He may be correct, but On the Line isn’t that film. It makes no intellectual statements, poses no compelling questions or ideas, and doesn’t even attempt to satirize or challenge. Instead, it serves as an odd reflection of its hapless star’s career trajectory, reinforcing the point that Gen Z is now replacing “dinosaurs” with new values and ideologies. All the while, the director adheres to a very 1990s filmmaking style. There is even a pointless “through the car window” camera shot early on that calls so much attention to itself that it almost derails an entire scene.

One of the major issues is that Gary’s disembodied voice poses next-to-no threat. It’s not just the screechy intonations or ludicrous lines of dialogue that make him a nonentity. He doesn’t act upon the majority of his threats. For example, Gary orders Elvis to kill a security guard at one point. When Elvis refuses, it’s fine, let’s move on, let’s play another game. At least Gibson still emanates bearish confidence and charisma. When Justin calls Elvis a d******d, he snaps, “Eh, dickheads are on top,” in a way that only Gibson can.

“The first 30 minutes are taut and compelling…”

Speaking of the dialogue in On the Line, the filmmaker outdid himself, clearly having set the task of including every cliché in the book. “Gary, you sick f**k, I hope you die and burn forever!” Elvis rasps. “Hey Gary, I’m coming upstairs to find ya, you sick puke!” he threatens later. “Were you taking a dump?” Gary asks at one point. “Show yourself, you slippery son of a bitch!” Elvis screams. “I’d cast Joaquin Phoenix as me,” Gary bellows. “Tonight, I’m sort of a Joker, mwahaha!”

The slight whiff of racism permeating the proceedings adds cream to this putrid cake. Elvis doesn’t remember the Indian security guard’s name (despite seeing him every evening). When the guard reintroduces himself with a difficult-to-pronounce name, Elvis just says, “How about I call you Bob?” Later on, Elvis casually says, in regards to the guard, “He’s probably a Buddhist.” “I’m Hindu, actually,” the guard responds. Is Boulanger purposefully reminding the viewers of his star’s infamous transgressions?

A few snappy one-liners courtesy of a confident lead sadly don’t make up for, well, everything else. “I think you need a rewrite. Sounds like a real stinker,” Elvis responds to Gary’s proposed movie idea at one point. “What kind of B-grade movie bullshit is this?” he says again later. He may as well be referring to On the Line.